


Talk to Me

by masked



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel Has Self-Worth Issues, Coda, Episode: s12e04 American Nightmare, Family Drama, Lack of Communication, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 01:45:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16844659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masked/pseuds/masked
Summary: Castiel's not sure how he ended as the sole confidante between the Winchesters, but here he is.





	Talk to Me

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on Nov 4, 2016 [here](http://hamburgergod.tumblr.com/post/152719419063/a-1204-fic-ft-castiel-12k-inspired-by-this).

Castiel’s never really thought of himself as a people-person. That would entail of him to be a _people_ in the first place, it isn’t as if he had much opportunities to know many humans other than the Winchesters anyway, and– 

He digresses. 

Of course, he would account himself as having gotten better at the whole ‘talking to people’ thing than he used to be, but seeing how he wasn’t able to talk to Vince Vincente’s sister without Crowley’s breaking-and-entering just few days ago, improvement doesn’t mean much. 

So, the fact that the Winchesters are even worse than him when it comes to talking to each other… should be telling. 

He means to call Dean and update him on the situation about Lucifer, and of Crowley. It would be nice, after all the drama he’s been through the past few hours, to hear Dean’s voice, too. 

Dean beats him to it, his cell phone vibrating in his empty passenger seat as he drives. He pulls to the side. “Hello, Dean.”

“Hey, Cas.”

He hears a dog barking in the background. “Where are you?” 

“On a case. Someone died from being flayed by nothing. Sound familiar to you at all?“ 

Ah, they need help with a case. “No, not to my knowledge.”

“Okay.”

Castiel waits, expecting Dean to say something else after, or hang up. He’s met with silence. He frowns into the blue sky. “Dean?”

“Yeah. Hey. So. Um.”

There’s few more seconds where Dean sounds like he’s struggling with whatever this is about, so Castiel prompts him. “Is everything alright?”

“Uh.” A pause. “No. Not really.” Dean sniffles. “Mom left.”

Oh.

“She, uh, just up and left us. And I don’t know if she’ll ever…”

“Dean, she’ll come back.”

“How do you know? You don’t even…” Dean huffs. “Fuck, _I_ don’t even know her. I don’t even know if she’s interested in coming back.” 

“Did she tell you that?”

“What?”

“Did she tell you that she won’t be coming back?” 

“Cas, people don’t just say they’re not coming back before they decide to leave for good.”

Castiel thinks back to his own conversation with Mary. She’d said that she didn’t feel like she belonged, but Dean makes it sound like she never wanted to belong. “I think you’re just making things complicated again.”

“Ugh.” 

“What did she exactly say when she left?”

“I don’t know. She just said that she’s sorry.”

“Did she bring her phone with her?”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you try calling her?”

“No,” Dean answers instantaneously, and the force of it throws Castiel off a little. Dean’s always been more fond of phone calls than text.

Either way, Castiel cautions this one through. “You can try texting her?” He can hear Dean’s hesitation through the silence. “You can’t avoid talking to her forever, Dean.”

“ _Fine_ , fine! I’ll just…” He sighs. “I’ll text her, alright?”

“Alright.”

“How’re things on your end, anyway?” Dean asks, marking the end of that conversation. 

“I tracked Lucifer down with Crowley, and–”

“Wait, wait wait. What?”

“What?”

“You serious?”

“Is that weird? I–”

“ _Yes_ , Cas, that’s weird. It’s really, _really_ weird.”

Dean’s remark aside, Castiel briefly updates Dean with Lucifer’s status. Dean’s voice is a little softer when he thanks him. 

Castiel stares at the phone screen for a little bit, waits for an oncoming car to pass, and pulls back onto the road.

* * *

It’s barely an hour after his phone call with Dean when Castiel stops for gas. He checks his phone before he gets out of his seat, and finds a preview of a text message that begins with, “Castiel, it’s Mary.”

He restarts the engine, and re-parks the truck in the parking lot section. He saves the number as “Mary” before he reads the full text. 

> **Mary**
> 
> Castiel, it’s Mary. I don’t want to bother you if you’re busy, but I was hoping to talk to you about something, if you don’t mind. Let me know if or when you’re available for a chat.

Castiel calls her. She picks up on the second ring.

“Hey, Castiel.”

“Hello, Mary. What did you need?” 

Mary huffs. “Right to the point, huh?”

There’s a bit of silence where Castiel patiently waits for her to struggle through what he suspects is the same thing Dean was struggling with. 

“I heard you left,” Castiel starts for her.

“Yeah,” Mary replies, and she almost sounds relieved that Castiel already knows. “Guess they already told you.”

“Yes.”

“Yeah,” she repeats. “I just… I needed some space to get my thoughts together.” She pauses. “I’m going to be honest, Castiel. I miss my old life a lot. I miss my family. And… I just need some time by myself to adjust to the idea that I still have family here, even if they’re not… the exact same as what I’m used to having. You know?”

“I know,” Castiel says, because he does. It’s a sentiment he’s well aware of by now, though he’s not sure how much of it is really applicable to him compared to her.

“Yeah.” Mary sounds a little more… relaxed, maybe. A little more assured. A loud ‘beep’ sounds from the receiver. “Whoa!”

“Mary?”

“I better go. I think the phone is dying.”

He’s not sure if Dean’s texted her yet, but it would be useless either way if she has a dead phone. “Do you have a phone charger with you?”

“Crap.” He hears rustling. “Where do I get a phone charger?”

Castiel tells her possible places to buy a phone charger, instructing her to make sure the charger is the same brand as her phone (which would’ve been useful information back when he first started using a phone). He hears her scribbling it all down fast through the obnoxious beeping. 

“Mary?”

“Yes?”

“They’ll always have space for you.” 

Mary is quiet when she replies, “Thanks, Castiel.”

The phone dies on her right after that, which Castiel supposes is nice timing.

He fills up his tank, and sets back on the road. He hopes she finds herself a charger before Dean texts her. 

* * *

The sun is just about reaching the top of his head when Dean calls him two days later. 

“We’re on our way back home,” Dean explains. “Stopped for lunch.”

“Have you texted your mother?”

“Jesus, Cas,” Dean says with a laugh. “Yeah, I texted mom. She, uh. Anyway, it’s good now.”

“Good,” Castiel replies firmly. “I’m glad.”

“Yeah. And hey, any time you need back-up, you let us know, alright?”

“Of course, Dean.”

“Alright,” Dean repeats, more to himself. “Okay, I gotta go. Sam’s coming back. And uh… thanks for the push, Cas.”

Castiel blinks. He didn’t really do much. “You’re welcome?”

Dean seems satisfied with this, and they hang up. Castiel goes back to driving down the deserted road. 

All they had to do was talk, and they would’ve seen just how much they mattered to each other, even when apart physically. Winchesters. Still, he’s happy for them in the end. For all of them, to have a place to belong.

Maybe. Maybe one day, they’ll have space for him, too. 


End file.
